Week in Ideas: Daniel Akst

By

Daniel Akst

Jan. 4, 2013 9:36 p.m. ET

Shedding Light on Levitation

In a potential breakthrough, scientists have used light to control the motion of a disk floating on a magnetic cushion, a technology that could lead, eventually, to new transportation systems and forms of solar power.

The technique relies on diamagnetism, the property whereby an object repels magnetic fields. That can produce magnetic levitation, which the scientists in this case used to float a...